


Any Other Name

by Krasimer



Series: Don't Take My Sunshine Away [10]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Amnesiac Soldier: 76, Gabriel Being Gabriel, Hanzo gets angry, Head Injury, Healing, Injury Recovery, JUST LET THEM BE HAPPY, Jack being Jack, M/M, Memories, Memory Related, Poor Jack, Protective Gabriel, Recovered Memories, Recovery, problem solving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-22
Updated: 2016-07-22
Packaged: 2018-07-25 22:53:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7550371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krasimer/pseuds/Krasimer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He shifted in bed, wincing at the small noise it made, quietly urging the framework to be quiet. A glance back across the room informed him that his movements hadn't gone unnoticed. "Fuck," Gabriel muttered. "Angie, if you're watching me sleep in the name of keeping an eye on my health <i>again</i> I may literally murder you. You're a good doctor, please let your patients sleep in peace."</p><p>Gabriel rolled over, a glare pasted on his face as he prepared to tell Angela off.</p><p>They stared dumbly at each other for a moment before Gabriel's jaw dropped open, his half-asleep brain registering what he was seeing. "...Jack?" his voice was soft, almost unbelieving of what his eyes were telling him. He sat up quickly, grabbing the bedframe to steady himself. "Jack, when did you-"</p><p>"Just now," Jack swallowed nervously. "When you say 'Angie', is that Angela Ziegler? Our Angie?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Any Other Name

The entire team was assembled in a circle around the two downed men, a protective barrier of people with a weapon in every hand.

Last to arrive was Widowmaker, her rifle held in clenched fists, her eyes narrowed as she stared down the Talon agents before her. Tracer followed along at her side, a careful hand on her shoulder. The touch was a reassurance, a small gesture of goodwill and calm in the middle of a storm. Yellow-green eyes met brown, a swirl of fear overtaking the normal confidence in both.

Behind them, Reaper still screamed.

"I've got to say," came a voice from above them. "I'm a little...Underwhelmed. Is this what Overwatch is now, a bunch of children armed with funny little toys?" the voice tutted, an annoying sound echoing through some sort of speaker. "Cheating in battle, concentrating more on helping each other out than getting the mission done. Careless of you, not watching the objective at all times."

Reinhardt's shoulders were stiff, his posture tensed with his hammer raised. "You sound familiar."

"Oh, do I?" the voice laughed, a transport sliding into view. "No wonder Blackwatch hated you, you aren't good enough to have been ours. I remember you, Wilhelm. You, Jesse McCree, Torbjörn and oh look, the young cyborg as well," another peal of laughter made all of them tense up. "Look at that, the crew is all here."

Hanzo's bow was taut, an arrow nocked and ready to be loosed the moment he got the right angle.

"Tell me, did you ever figure out what happened?"

"When and where?" Torbjörn jeered back. "Quite a lot has happened, you know."

"Zürich, Switzerland. Nearly twenty years ago now, quite a lot has happened indeed. I mean, the death of all three of the head members? The founding soldiers, the ones whose backs this organization was built upon? Ana Amari, Jack Morrison, Gabriel Reyes..." a sigh of faked sadness crackled through the line at them. "And the disbanding, oh that was beautiful to watch. McCree goes off and becomes a vigilante, isn't taken back by Deadlock, can't go home again, can you? Shimada wanders the world and pretends to be something more than an omnic brat with a lump of flesh in the middle, kept warm by something pretending to be a pulse and a heart.

"I guess you're just not as worthwhile as you used to be," the voice was familiar, every moment they kept speaking bringing more awareness to those down below. "Overwatch should have died in the explosion. Blackwatch deserved _**better**_ than some snivelling bastard who toed the line for his Commander at every moment. Blackwatch was the destruction of its own creator, Frankenstein's monster coming home."

McCree was staring at the ship above them, his eyes narrowed. "Why don't ya come down an' say that to our faces?" he snarled, his hand going almost stranglingly tight on Peacekeeper. "I reckon ya got somethin' ta hide and I want ta know what it is."

"Me? I have something to hide? What about you? The entire group of you, defending two dead men and helping my little weapon."

Her suit's wings spread, Mercy's hands balled into fists, shaking slightly. "She isn't yours," she hissed out the words like venom, nearly stepping forward only to stop in her tracks when Hanzo did instead.

"You have harmed these people," his eyes were locked onto the transport ship, his shoulders tensed. "You will end this now!"

His bow came up, the arrow flying free as the words that struck fear into many peoples' hearts fell from his lips. The air around them burned, almost too hot to breathe, drying up even more when the dragons appeared. They were larger than any of them had ever seen, their fangs sharper and their eyes brighter.

It was more surprising when a streak of green appeared and followed them, a quieter voice echoing his intent, the words different but wanting the same thing.

The explosion was, for lack of a better word, magnificent.

 

xXx

 

A slow and steady beeping woke him up, the noise gentle enough on his ears but just enough out of place to wake him.

He couldn't breathe, remembered the last moments of consciousness before he-

"Hey, hey, stay down!" a cheerful voice accompanied the hand pushing softly on his shoulder, the physical equivalent of the words being spoken. "You're fine luv, just need to rest up a bit, yeah? We're watchin' over you, gonna make sure everythin's alright."

"Gonna be here?" he managed to mumble out, the words feeling heavier than his eyelids as he let himself be moved back onto the pillow beneath his head. 

"We all will be," the voice assured him, the back of a hand pressed against his forehead. "Ya still got a bit of a fever there, luv. Doctor's orders are ta take it easy."

He thought he nodded, but he couldn't be sure.

 

When he woke again, it was to a couple of voices at the foot of his bed.

"We cannot just wake him up before he is ready!" one of them sounded almost shocked, he could picture hands waving around in the air with wide eyes and a grimace on an otherwise smooth face.

"Angie..." he muttered, hands clenching tightly around the blankets tucked in on top of him. "Yelling..."

"I am sorry," came the other voice after a moment. "You are right, I will take my leave now, Doctor Ziegler."

Her hand was on his cheek, her fingers pressed to a point in his neck. "If you can stay awake for any longer, I would advise against it," she spoke softly, this time, her hand brushing back the hair out of his eyes. "Now is the time for sleeping," she sounded like she was smiling.

Good, she needed to smile more.

 

The third time he woke up, he was able to open his eyes. 

He was in the infirmary, the walls white and the room tidied up and neat. Everything was just so and it made him think of Angela instantly. This was her territory, this was her space. 

"Gabriel?" came the question from the door.

He looked up, nodding when he saw Lena standing there. She was carrying a tray of food, a small smile on her face. Her jacket had been maneuvered off, her arms bare underneath the straps of the chronal accelerator on her chest. "Oxton," he greeted, experimentally pushing himself up in bed. "How long was I out?"

"'bout four days," she answered, stepping into the room and settling on the chair next to his bed. "Doctor Ziegler kept you here ta monitor you, had some big fight with Winston 'bout keepin' you in the same room as Sol- as Jack. Guess he didn't like the idea of your nanite cloud messing with the equipment," she smiled at him again, this time, it reached her eyes. "I think he was jus' worried about the both a' you."

"The both-" his breath froze in his chest and he looked around.

On the other side of the room, still unmoving in his bed lay Jack Morrison. He was dressed in a white shirt, an IV line in the crook of his elbow, but he was whole. Gabriel let out a small sigh, taking in the sight of him almost hungrily. "He survived?"

"Ya both did," she paused in setting her tray of food up. "Doctor says you can't have fully solid food, but she has sent me with this for you," she offered him a cup of jello, the bright orange concoction wiggling gently in the confines of the container. "I was switchin' in for watch duty, makin' sure that the both a' you would be alright."

"...Has he woken up?" Gabriel asked, eyeing the jello like it might come to life and attack him. When she offered it forward again, he took it reluctantly. It sat in his hands as he continued to look towards Jack.

"Nah," Lena shook her head, digging her fork into the salad on her plate. "He is recoverin' from a few worse hurts than you, though. The scans Ziegler did on his brain a while back showed some interestin' things, but we have to wait until he does wake up to figure out what's goin' on up there," she stuffed the overlarge bite of salad into her mouth, tapping the handle of the fork on the side of her head. When she chewed and swallowed, she nodded. "Looks like he'll be alright after that hit he took,"

Gabriel's eyes were pinned on the other man, his hands clasped around the jello like a lifeline. "I can almost promise he'll wake up," Lena said after a moment, "Just give him some time."

"I can give him as much time as he needs," Gabriel whispered. "He just needs to wake up."

 

xXx

 

His eyes didn't want to open.

He could hear snoring nearby, he could feel the texture of the fabric under his hands, he could even taste the film over his tongue from not having brushed his teeth for too long. He could feel a slight headache on one side, his head sore, the pain radiating from a starting point somewhere around his neck. 

Everything was a blur, an undeveloped film strip, moments of time coming back to him in a rush.

Facing down Reaper, he remembered that.

The man had been wrecked by Talon once again, his body barely holding together as he moved, he remembered that. Claws and a wired mouth, shoulders stiff like a tortured man in pain. They had done horrible things to him once again.

He remembered talking to him, remembered taking off his jacket, remembered trying to console the young man with dreadlocks. He couldn't remember names or the sequence of things, could barely hold onto the when of his current existence. His entire body was sore, a lifetime of fighting catching up to him all at once.

Sitting up slowly, he looked around. 

Across the room from him was another bed, the man sleeping in it familiar just by the shape of his shoulders and hip underneath the blankets. He smiled faintly, watched Gabriel's breathing for a moment, then sighed. 

The last time he had seen Gabriel sleeping peacefully had been months before the Swiss headquarters incident.

He shifted in bed, wincing at the small noise it made, quietly urging the framework to be quiet. A glance back across the room informed him that his movements hadn't gone unnoticed. "Fuck," Gabriel muttered. "Angie, if you're watching me sleep in the name of keeping an eye on my health _again_ I may literally murder you. You're a good doctor, please let your patients sleep in peace."

Gabriel rolled over, a glare pasted on his face as he prepared to tell Angela off.

They stared dumbly at each other for a moment before Gabriel's jaw dropped open, his half-asleep brain registering what he was seeing. "...Jack?" his voice was soft, almost unbelieving of what his eyes were telling him. He sat up quickly, grabbing the bedframe to steady himself. "Jack, when did you-"

"Just now," Jack swallowed nervously. "When you say 'Angie', is that Angela Ziegler? Our Angie?"

A harsh shudder of breath ripped out of Gabriel's throat. " _Dios mio_ ," he hissed, his hands clenching almost too hard around the edge of the bed. "Jack, you're- Don't you ever fucking scare me like that again, okay?" he stood up, untethered by the IV line that was still in Jack's arm. Stumbling over the five feet between them, he dropped to his knees in front of Jack's bed. 

Jack put a hand on his cheek, searching over his face. "There was something about the Swiss headquarters, something...Something wrong."

"No shit, we knew that already. Stupid fucking pride got to me, I'm so sorry, Jack," Gabriel pressed his forehead against the bed, leaned up into Jack's hand when it shifted into his hair. "I was an idiot, I'll probably always be an idiot, just don't...Don't ever do that again."

"...There was someone else there," Jack muttered, scratching lightly at Gabriel's scalp. "I'd come across the bomb, found someone else there..."

"What?"

"There was someone else there, I'm sure of it."

"No no," Gabriel sat back up, rolling onto his feet to stare into Jack's eyes. "You remember?"

Oh.

"I suppose I do," Jack frowned, then nodded. "A few things still feel...Blurry? I guess. But," he nodded again, slowly. "I think I do remember. There was some guy there, it was- Walsh. It was Walsh."

"...Walsh," Gabriel frowned. "Walsh was Blackwatch, one of the newer guys by the time things went south. We are talking about Cionaodh Walsh, right? Irish, about six-foot, kind of annoying..."

"When you recruited him, he said something about..." Jack frowned, digging a knuckle into his forehead as he closed his eyes to think about it. "He mentioned his father having been some sort of domestic terrorist."

"That little shit founded Talon right under our noses," Gabriel jumped to the conclusion first. "He trained his homegrown terrorist cell using Blackwatch tactics and then fucked our lives over. He hated having to listen to orders..."

"And he had access to you," Jack finished the thought, his eyes wide.

Gabriel shook his head, frowning. "Doesn't matter,"

"It does, though, Gabe. I know you, I know you wouldn't have done something that extreme and terrifying unless you were absolutely sure there was a good reason for it. I've always known you better than you think," Jack paused to breathe, catching Gabriel's face in his hands. He remembered doing the same just before everything had gone astray before he'd had to face this man on a battlefield. He hadn't remembered then. "And when you were talking about the explosion, all you talked about was regret and anger. That isn't something you would consider a good cause and we both know it."

"Hey," Gabriel shuddered, one hand going to his chest. "Under here is a bitter heart. A little bit different than the man you're remembering."

"No, he isn't," Jack smiled at him, shaking his head. "He's exactly the man I remember and I wouldn't have him any other way. Walsh had access to you, access to Blackwatch's records and training. When you were first brought in by me, Angela said something about an inhibitor in your system. They messed with your emotions, got inside your brain and ruined some things,"

He sighed before continuing. "You were a bit of a petty asshole, but you weren't ever _that_ bad."

Petting at the man's cheek before sliding his hand into his hair, Jack laughed. "This is you," he whispered. "And I know you better than you know yourself, I know you better than anyone, I know you better than myself. Even when things go wrong between us, I will always know you. The way you were acting, that wasn't you,"

Gabriel swallowed, leaning into his hands before tentatively putting his arms around him, holding him close for the first time in nearly two decades. "I'm always one step ahead of you," he muttered, trying to ignore the tears forming in the corner of his eyes. "And you're always so fucking sappy, it's ridiculous."

"Says the man who's crying," Jack shot back, "Want to sleep over here now?"

"Angie is gonna kill us if she sees it."

"Do I look like I care?" Jack scooted over on the bed, patting the space behind him. "Just sleep, don't think I have it in me to do anything else right now. Besides, IV lines shouldn't just be tugged out, even if all the movies do it."

Rolling his eyes, Gabriel clambered over him, tucking under the blankets and curling an arm like an iron bar over Jack's hips. "We're gonna get yelled at, she'll walk in tomorrow morning and find us together and _yell_ ,"

"Don't tell me you started being afraid of her," Jack laughed, his untethered arm slipping down to curl his fingers together with Gabriel's. "Gabe, just promise me something."

"I've always been afraid of her cariño, don't you remember how she gets when she's angry?" Gabriel nudged his nose against the back of Jack's neck. "And that depends on what it is. I can't promise a couple of things, but there's some stuff I'll do for you."

"Promise me you'll stay."

Silence fell between them, Gabriel going completely still behind him. 

"You don't have to stay forever, just...Just stay until we can figure this out together. There's some rough road ahead, and I don't want to walk down it without you," Jack curled himself smaller, his eyes focusing on where their hands were joined together, one of Jack's but both of Gabe's. 

"Sol de Oro," Gabriel began, his voice cracking over the words. "Why would I want to go anywhere you aren't?"

Relief bloomed in his chest, a powder keg of explosives moved away from a fire before they could light, the ashes stamped down until the danger was completely gone. "Then just stay with me," he dared to whisper.

Gabriel's fingers were warm, threading through Jack's like they belonged there, as if they always had belonged. "Not going anywhere," he whispered, his forehead pressed to the back of Jack's neck.

They fell asleep like that, pressed as close together as they possibly could be.

 

xXx

 

The light was bright around them, a gentle tapping noise enough to wake them both.

Gabriel woke up completely when he realized Angela was standing over them, her arms crossed and her foot tapping against the floor. Her eyebrow was raised, the other joining it when Gabriel gave her a nervous smile, his arms still wrapped tightly around Jack.

"Do you want to tell me why you are in his bed instead of your own?" she asked with a flicker of amusement in her eyes. "I am sure it is a wonderful story. Particularly the part where your arms are wrapped around him."

Jack groaned, reaching for the pillow to cover his eyes. "Angie, it's too early for this," he muttered, shoving his face into the soft edge of the cushion. "Go bother someone else for just a little bit longer."

"It is nearly noon, you do not get -" her jaw dropped as she looked at him and she blinked a few times. "...Jack?" she ventured cautiously.

"Yes," he groaned. "It's noon? Damn it, I'm glad I'm not on a schedule anymore."

"When...How did you...Jack, what?"

He pulled the pillow off of his face, looking up at her with the eyes of someone who was still exhausted. "I woke up last night, Gabe and I had a talk, things are a little better, we have a plan."

"We don't have a plan," Gabriel shook his head. 

"We have a bit of a plan. I woke up and remembered and I just...I needed him nearby. Felt like if I didn't have him there, I wasn't going to wake up again. Don't yell at him, it still makes him nervous," he yawned, then nodded, slowly sitting up when Gabriel's arms moved to allow it. He made a face like he was trying to stretch his eyes open, yawned again, then sighed and let himself be pulled back against Gabriel's chest. 

Angela watched them move together, a small smile on her face as she grabbed her clipboard from the side table. "I was looking over the scans of your brain. This...The damage after the explosion was obvious when you first arrived here. The swelling from the reinjury made it impossible to get a new scan. I suppose," she settled into the chair next to them, folding her hands in her lap. "I suppose the trauma caused by your head being forced against the ground must have done something."

"I will take it as a fucking miracle and move on if I have to," Gabriel muttered, dropping his chin onto Jack's shoulder.

"This should not be possible," Angela shook her head, the ponytail she had her hair up in brushing the back of her neck. "You are, as of this moment, a medical mystery."

"A lot of things are going to be weird," Jack shrugged, reaching up to scratch gently at Gabriel's head, a smile on his face. "Super Soldier Serum. Tends to make everything off the charts and cause new things to occur. Angie," he started when she still looked concerned. "I feel fine. I think I'll be okay."

She sighed, then nodded, allowing his words to stand. "Just to be sure, I want to keep an eye on you for the next week or so. If nothing new shows up, then you can head back to your living quarters," leaning forward, she made him tilt his head to one side. "This bruising is concerning, however."

"What, are you gonna poke at it?"

"That is exactly what I am going to do, Gabriel," she smirked at him, nudging his face back so she could get a better view. "This is coming from underneath your hairline," she traced the scar that led to the bruising, following it back up. When she got to the center of the bruise, she frowned once more, rubbing over it carefully. "Does this feel like anything?" 

Jack made a face, trying to get away from her hands. "Hurts," he grunted out, his eyes clenched shut. "Please stop."

"I will be right back," she stood up, her eyes wide. "Don't move, either of you. Stay right where you are, don't move an inch until I have returned," she rushed out of the room, her sensible heels making a noise that echoed down the hall, leaving Gabriel holding Jack against his chest.

When she returned, she held a small imaging device in her hand, already turning it on as she moved. In her other hand, she held a tube of gel. "Jack, I need you to hold still while I do this. It will likely hurt, but I need you to hold still," she squirted some of the gel onto the side of his head, rolling the tip of the scanner in it as she searched for something on the attached screen, her blue eyes narrowed as she watched. "There!"

She clicked a button, freezing the image on the screen before pulling it away. "The Super Soldier Serum, it gave you an advanced healing factor, yes?"

"Yeah," Gabe curled his hands around Jack's, trying to keep him calm. "Why?"

"Because I would guess that is how he ended up with a piece of shrapnel stuck in his brain but still be able to function," Angela held the screen for him to see, worry and relief warring for their place in her eyes. "I would guess that it has been healing and re-healing over that same spot for twenty years, unable to remove it because it is embedded in his skull. When he first arrived, he mentioned headaches, migraines really."

Reaching out her own hand to take some of Jack's fingers, squeezing them to try and comfort him. "We can have it removed now that we know it is there. Quick surgery, should not even take more than an hour."

"Good," Gabriel nodded, still holding Jack close. "Good."

**Author's Note:**

> I looked at my page counter and this was over 10 pages of me trying to fix the damage I have done to these guys in the last 15K of words about them.
> 
> There's still more of this series to come, don't worry. I like these guys too much to let go of them yet.
> 
> Tell me what you think? What did you like? I really do like hearing from you guys, it makes it even more fun. You want to come yell at me about headcanons and characters and ships? Krasimer or LookUponMyWorksYeMighty over on Tumblr.


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